Latest News

NEWARK – A father-and-son home improvement company in Point Pleasant bilked dozens of homeowners out of more than $1 million in federal superstorm Sandy relief aid, by taking money for work that was substandard, never performed or abandoned, a civil complaint filed by the state Consumer Affairs Division alleges. Contractors Paul Zaidinski Sr. and Paul Zaidinski Jr. and […]

Property owners along New Jersey’s coast have had their homes raised to avoid flood waters like those that damaged homes during Hurricane Sandy. But the home-elevation industry, which became a booming business after the 2012 storm, is wrought with problems, ranging from safety issues to funding delays that put projects on hold and left some […]

Updated January 12, 2017 7:10 PM UNION BEACH – Thousands of New Jersey families, their homes damaged or destroyed by Sandy, are now being ordered to repay part of their disaster assistance grants and a Kane In Your Corner investigation Wednesday found the rules determining the paybacks sometimes don’t seem fair. But homeowner advocates say those […]

January 11, 2017 8:05 PM LITTLE EGG HARBOR – Some New Jersey homeowners are being ordered to repay tens of thousands of dollars in Sandy grant money after they accepted government-backed loans that the Federal Emergency Management Agency encouraged them to apply for, and a FEMA spokesman promises Kane In Your Corner the agency will work harder […]

TRENTON — A bill that would protect Sandy victims for foreclosure is on Gov. Chris Christie’s desk after the measure was approved Tuesday by the state Senate. The bill, co-sponsored by state Senators Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, and Brian Stack, D-Hudson, had already passed the Assembly earlier this year. MORE: Brick relief center to reopen in new […]

Santa’s helpers traveled a long distance to make a special stop in Baton Rouge this weekend, though not from quite so far away as the North Pole. A New York-based nonprofit group created to help Superstorm Sandy flood victims in Long Island decided to play the Santa helper role for flood victims in Louisiana’s capital […]

OCEAN COUNTY, N.J. (CBS) — A New Jersey man is facing charges for scamming individuals who had their homes damaged during Superstorm Sandy. Charges against Jamie Lawson, 41, were announced on Friday. Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato announced that a grand jury indicted Lawson, the owner of Lawson Renovations, L.L.C., DBA J&N Construction. Authorities […]

New Jersey and federal agencies have announced a joint study to examine ways to combat flooding on the state’s back bays, which were where some of the worst flooding happened four years when Superstorm Sandy barreled into the shore. The pain continues for many communities that were pummeled by the historic storm. Shore towns have […]

For years, the conflicting goals of protecting the environment and some of the New Jersey shore’s priciest real estate from storms have bedeviled a body of water known as Wreck Pond. Storms sometimes open a channel between the 48-acre tidal pond and the ocean, but governments keep sealing it shut to protect homes from flooding. […]

TOMS RIVER — A nearly $1.5 million grant from the Robin Hood Foundation will allow a Sandy advocacy group to continue helping storm victims through 2017. “I am bursting at the seams so I am not going to delay anymore,” Sue Marticek, executive director of the Ocean County Long-Term Recovery Group said at the start […]

TOMS RIVER, N.J. — A New Jersey motel owner who stole more than $81,000 in federal disaster relief funds by falsely claiming he had sheltered Superstorm Sandy victims is now headed to prison. Sandipkumar Patel received a three-year sentence Friday. The 44-year-old Edison man had pleaded guilty in September to theft by deception and has […]

Sue Marticek loves to tell this story: A family that turned to her agency for assistance was put out of their home by Hurricane Sandy the year their daughter graduated high school. The daughter graduated college this year, and they’re still not home. “That put it all in perspective,” Marticek said. “Four years! Think about […]

Demands for repayment of grants used for rebuilding, threats of foreclosure are only two of the troubles Sandy victims now have to deal with Hurricane Sandy is still tearing up people’s lives four years after the storm wreaked devastation up and down the coast. Take Julie Suarez. A couple of years after settling back into […]

Four years ago Saturday, Superstorm Sandy barreled into New Jersey. For some, the storm isn’t over yet. And for others, another wave may be coming in the form of increased property taxes. Still-displaced homeowners took their grievances to an Assembly committee Thursday, which heard more than two hours of testimony that suggested the headaches they’ve […]

TRENTON — Victims of Hurricane Sandy unleashed a torrent of frustration and anger at state lawmakers on Thursday over the continued slow recovery process that they say is leading to foreclosures, wasting public money and failing to plan for future storms. Two days shy of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy pummeling major swaths of New Jersey, the […]

First it was the insurers, then the government and now it’s the contractors that are frustrating Sandy victims (Photo: Courtesy of Price Home Group) Five months and you’ll be back home. That was the promise Price Home Group made in a contract with Patricia Bollman and Maureen Molz, a Brick couple among the thousands at the Shore who lost their […]

HADLEY — For his efforts overseeing coastal protection and marsh restoration work in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services scientist Richard Bennett has been named the 2016 GreenGov Presidential Awards “Climate Champion.” Bennett, regional scientist at the service’s Hadley office, received the award Sept. 7 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building […]

By Beckie Strum The extent of damage from the historic flooding in Louisiana a week ago continues to grow, with parishes and local authorities reporting 60,642 homes damaged or destroyed, officials said Sunday. Around 102,000 survivors have registered to receive federal aid, including help with home repairs and cleanup work, since what many are calling the […]

TOMS RIVER — Need help with a flood insurance claim, contractor fraud or problem with the state’s Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation program? The Ocean County Long-Term Recovery Group has four workshops scheduled to help people deal with these issues. The long-term recovery group, an umbrella organization of about 80 nonprofit groups, is sponsoring the […]

Officials announced on Monday, June 27, 2016, a new initiative that will place 100 signs around 14 municipalities in Monmouth County that show Hurricane Sandy’s high-water mark. (Alex Napoliello | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) MIDDLETOWN — Residents in 14 Monmouth County towns will soon get a stark reminder that Hurricane Sandy’s high-water mark reached 14 feet above […]

Sue Marticek, executive director of the Ocean County Long-Term Recovery Group, calls for investigation of FEMA. Iphone video by Jean Mikle Two years after awarding grants for Laurie Fox’s storm-damaged Lacey home, the government wants its money back. The reason is nuts. Buy Photo (Photo: Pete Ackerman/Staff Photographer) After her Lacey home got pummeled by superstorm […]

The door to Laurie Fox’s house won’t open. Maybe it’s damp mildew inside that caused the door to expand in the heat. Maybe it’s the sagging roof. Either way, it’s a metaphor for the post-Sandy mess that has kept Fox out of her house for 43 months, with no prospect of returning. Fox’s home is in […]

The Seaside boardwalk in the winter. Without summer residents, the New Jersey shore population has been steadily declining because of Sandy and economic difficulties. (Alex Remnick | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) (Alex Remnick) As the Jersey Shore swells in population from tourists this summer, something is still missing — the full-time residents it has […]

“TOMS RIVER – A family that was victimized when superstorm Sandy destroyed their Long Beach Island home in 2012 was preyed upon again when a Toms River contractor took more than $75,000 for repairs that weren’t completed, according to a grand jury indictment. Robert J. Rieche, 71, of Toms River was charged in a recent indictment with theft […]

“The money came and the money went, and nobody was watching. Now, it’s a police problem. That is the abridged version of the hurricane-related contractor fraud that has left thousands of homeowners stuck in the “disaster after the disaster” known as the Sandy recovery. No place is it worse than sprawling Ocean County, where the […]

“Oh, Sandy is STILL a thing?” “Isn’t recovery over…it’s been more than three years…” Everyone involved in the Sandy recovery process has heard these phrases casually uttered by our community members, friends or even family. Unfortunately, the majority of our country believes that Superstorm Sandy is nothing more than a distant memory. In fact, awareness […]

WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday said it would make changes to the flood insurance program following revelations that the private companies that handle claims have been shortchanging Hurricane Sandy homeowners. The agency said it would take control of the appeals process, as it has done with the Sandy homeowners who felt they […]

“Our flood insurance claims were never paid fairly from the start” says our Executive Director, Sue Marticek. “Therefore, our entire recovery was cut off by the knees by the non-payment to our homeowners from their flood insurance claims.” Click for more information: http://www.app.com/videos/news/local/ocean-county/sandy-recovery/2016/05/06/84034280/

Sandy whistle blowers: “We received instruction not to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of claims and we were directed to tailor evaluations to fail within a range even if we identify additional covered damage.” Listen to the words of Jeff Coolidge, FEMA flood certified claims adjuster, who says The Sandy Review process is “a sham.” Watch […]